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Emergency services hope for rain to fight deadly George fire

More than 200 people have been evacuated, temperatures have cooled and rain is forecast

30 October 2018 - 09:10
Iavan Pijoos

The fires outside George. Picture: BITOU FIRE ASSOCIATION

Emergency services hope that rains will help them fight a raging blaze in George in the Western Cape.

“I believe rain has been forecast. We had some thunder and rain‚ but only a few drops‚” police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie said. “To be quite honest‚ we are hoping for good rain to assist the firefighters.”

By Monday evening‚ seven people had died in the blaze. It was initially reported that four people — a baby‚ two toddlers and an adult — had died in the wildfires. But as the fires continued into Monday night‚ authorities said three other people had died in the same area. All deaths have been in the Karatara area.

Pojie said a pregnant woman was among those reported dead. An additional 120 Working on Fire (WOF) firefighters from the Free State and Eastern Cape have been deployed to assist with fire suppression and mop-up operations.

Western Cape local government spokesperson James-Brent Styan said weather conditions were improving‚ which was helping firefighting efforts slightly.